Chapter 56

“Strong Smith?
Ming Hu muttered Strong Smith under his breath, then looked at Tilto with a strange look in his eyes for saying that he was a legend among the blacksmiths. A legend in his own words?
“Hmmm.”
Tilto coughed, a little embarrassed by what he had said, and looked at Ming Hu.
“Actually, I’m not a legend yet, but I will be. I make an unbelievable amount of armor. I can make more than ten armor pieces when most blacksmiths can make one. In other words, I can mass produce armor.”
“…!”
“That’s not all. The quality of the armor is not even close to that of the court smiths!”
“Yeah… But why would you want me to…?”
As you listened, something was off. I didn’t understand why I was saying this to myself.
“You… you ever think about being Strong Smith?”
“…What?”
Tiltho’s next words prompted Ming Hu to reflexively ask a question. Tilto’s reply resumed his speech, and by the end of it, Ming Hu had received a quest.
<Subjobs – Tilto's Secret
Tilto is a Strong Smith who would become a legend among blacksmiths. The first Strong Smith and Tilto's mentor worked at the palace. His armor was faster than anyone else's and of superior quality. The other smiths were jealous of him, and he was eventually framed. With no connections and no power, he was forced out of the palace. He was furious. Tilto's master told him that one day he would return to the palace. But he couldn't, and he left Tilto to keep it. But Tilto followed in his master's footsteps. He excelled and became the court blacksmith, but it wasn't long before he was framed and forced out of the palace. Tilto was angry, but he became a court blacksmith to keep the family name going, not for any other reason, and he has no intention of returning to the palace. But resentment is resentment. Titto is looking for a strong successor, someone who will be able to turn the noses of the court smiths upside down, someone who won't be intimidated by any accusations. That is you, and you must choose. Will you follow in Tilto's footsteps and become Strong Smith, or will you continue to live as you have always lived.
Difficulty Level: B
Upon accepting the quest: Subclass – Create Strong Smith, Teachings of Tito1
Quest refusal: Significant drop in affinity with Tilto.
"It's a subjob…
Ming Hu was torn. If there were no other constraints, he would have accepted immediately, but he had a feeling that there would be a conflict with the court smiths and that he would be greatly entangled in it.
"I don't want to be tied down…
I didn't mind confronting the blacksmiths, but I didn't want to be stuck somewhere. A game is only a game if you actively play it. Passive enjoyment was no longer a game.
"Flattening the noses of the court blacksmiths… You can take your time. I'm sure you have your own goals in life to fulfill, but I hope you do it while I'm alive."
Is it because I can see that Ming Hu is troubled? Tilto opened his mouth to speak. Ming Hu smiled as he heard the words. That would be no problem.
"I'll take my master's lead and flatten the noses of the court smiths."
"…!"
Tilto looked surprised at Ming Hu's words. At that moment, messages began to appear.
[Subjob – Strong Smith has been created].
[You transfer to Strong Smith and gain new skills].
[Strong – You have mastered the art of armorcraft].
[Dexterity has been created].
Ming Hu checked the message. Then Tilto opened his mouth to speak.
"…Thank you."
"Speak easy. Master."
"Got it. Thank you. And…"
Tilto blurted out, and Ming Hu looked away from the message to look at Tilto. Tilto was holding a box.
'Right! Reward!'
I had forgotten the reward. Ming Hu waited for Tilto to speak.
"This is my reward for saving the claws of the big wolf. Take this and wait a moment."
[You have completed the quest].
Tilto handed the box to Ming Hu and went inside. Ming Hu opened the box while Tilto was inside to see what was inside.
"Hmph."
As expected, the box contained seven Elixirs of Agility. Ming Hu immediately took the seven Elixirs of Agility.
[You have taken the Elixir of Agility. You permanently gain 10 Dexterity].
[You have taken the Elixir of Agility. You permanently gain 10 Dexterity].
[You have taken the Elixir of Agility. You permanently gain 10 Dexterity].
[You have taken the Elixir of Agility. You permanently gain 10 Dexterity].
[You have taken the Elixir of Agility. You permanently gain 10 Dexterity].
[You have taken the Elixir of Agility. You permanently gain 10 Dexterity].
[You have taken the Elixir of Agility. You permanently gain 10 Dexterity].
Jumbled
When Tilto had finished taking the elixir, he came out. In his hands, Tilto held a much larger box and a much smaller box.
Thump!
Placing the two boxes on the counter, Tilto opened the smaller one and took out the contents. It was a blue marble about 10 centimeters in diameter. Tilto held the blue orb in his hand and opened his mouth to speak.
"This bead looks like…"
Yikes!
Tilto quickly tossed the marble to the floor.
Poof!
The moment the orb touched the floor, it turned to smoke and disappeared, revealing a simple forge. Ming Hu stared blankly at the forge, and Tilto opened his mouth to speak.
"Throw it and you'll find a small forge. Inside you will find a hammer and all the necessary equipment. This is the forge you'll use, and if you press the blue button next to it, you'll return to the marbles. Press it."
Boom!
He pressed the button and the forge disappeared in a puff of smoke, revealing a blue orb. Ming Hu reached for the orb.
[Magic Orb: You have acquired a Simple Blacksmithing].
Ming Hu looked at the beads in wonder.
"Next up…"
Tilto said as he opened a large box, and Ming Hu put the orb into his inventory and looked inside.
"…"
Looking inside the box, Ming Hu was speechless.
"Is it… elixirs or everything?
The inside of the box was filled with what appeared to be elixirs. Ming Hu looked at it and then at Tilto. Tilto's mouth opened.
"It's an elixir of strength. Strength is very important to us Strong Smiths. The higher your strength, the faster you can forge your weaponry. Of course, strength isn't everything, and while it does make for a better weapon, it's hard to craft the best weapon if you don't have dexterity. This is my gift to you for becoming a Strong Smith. Take it."
At Tilto's words, Ming Hu looked at the crates filled with elixirs of power. There seemed to be over a hundred of them. No, definitely more than a hundred.
Sigh
Ming Hu reached for the chest containing the elixir of strength.
[You have acquired 500 Elixirs of Strength].
"…"
The number of power elixirs in the chest was a whopping 500. Ming Hu quickly checked the information on the power elixirs.
[Not Tradable]
Restriction: Clear skies
Permanently +10 Strength when taken
“…”
Ming Hu was unable to say anything. If he took 500 of them, he would gain a whopping 5000 strength. The problem was that he had a skill called ‘Source of Strength’.
“And… I don’t think you’ve ever made a mugu before. Is that correct?”
“…Oh, yeah!”
After staring at the elixir for a moment, Ming Hu placed it in his inventory and began to focus on Tilto’s words.
“Crafting a weapon is simple, just open the forge and do this …… Here, take these and make an iron sword.”
<The Teachings of Tiltho1
Tilto has taught you, his heir, how to forge armor. Tilto wants you to forge an iron sword. Make an iron sword and bring it to Tilto!
[Iron Sword: 0 / 1]
Difficulty Level: E
Quest Reward: 5kg Steel, Tilto's Teachings 2
Tilto gave Ming Hu the materials for the Iron Sword. Ming Hu takes the materials, pulls a blue orb from his inventory, and throws it to the ground.
Poof!
A simple forge appeared in the smoke. Once inside the forge, Ming Hu opened the skills window to find Strong – Armor Crafting.
<Strong – Armor Crafting
Level: 1
Proficiencia : 0
Create a mugu.
Brings up the Armor Crafting window when used.
The instructions were pretty straightforward. Ming Hu used the skill to bring up the crafting window.
'Wow. That's a lot.'
The crafting window that appeared showed the items that could be crafted, and the number of items was staggering. It seemed that all of Tilto's recipes had been passed down.
"Here it is!
Ming Hu needed to make an iron sword, so he clicked on Swords in the crafting window and found it. The others were grayed out because they didn't have the materials, and the iron sword glowed blue. Next to it was the number of swords that could be made, and it said 2 instead of 1. This meant that Tilto had given me enough to make two.
'Is it because they're afraid of failing?
I'm not sure why they gave him enough to make two, but Ming Hu selected the Iron Sword and pressed Craft. The materials for the Iron Sword that I had gotten from Tilto automatically appeared on the workbench, and at the same time, a hammer that was a bit far away flew to the side of the workbench.
[Hold the hammer].
At the prompt, Ming Hu grabbed the hammer.
[Tap the marked spot with a hammer].
As I grabbed the hammer, another message appeared. A section of iron began to glow as if to say, "Hit me here!
Boom!
Ming Hu swung his hammer and struck the iron. With a tremendous crash, a message appeared.
[You have successfully crafted an iron sword].
"Huh?"
Ming Hu was stunned by the success message. Tilto looked at him in amazement. There was no more iron on the workbench. There was only an iron sword.
'Isn't this how you usually make… Isn't it?
It's just hammered. And the sword was finished. There was no melting of iron or anything like that. Strong Smith's method of armor-making seemed to defy common sense.
Sigh
Ming Hu looked at the iron sword on the workbench, then picked it up, walked over to Tiltow, and handed it to him, saying, "I'll take it.
"Here… The iron sword you asked me to make."
"…Uh."
[You have completed the quest].
Tilto looked at Ming Hu with a puzzled expression and took the iron sword. When Tilto took the sword, a quest completion message appeared.
"Huh…?"
Soon, Tilto's gaze on the iron sword changed. Tilto looked at the sword carefully, then turned away from it and looked at Ming Hu.
"You… You've never actually made one?"
"Yes?"
"Haven't you ever made a mugu?"
"Yes."
"Really?"
"Yes."
Tilto looked at Ming Hu with a look of incredulity, then opened his mouth to speak.
"The iron sword you made. It's incredible. It's almost as good as mine. I can't believe you're so dexterous. If you take all the elixirs I gave you, you'll surpass me."
"…!?"
Tilto's words caused Ming Hu to be puzzled. Tilto looked at Ming Hu and handed him a few ingredients again, saying, "I'm sorry.
"Make a suit of armor out of this…"
<The Teachings of Tiltho2
Tilto has taught you, his heir, how to make armor. Tiltho wants you to forge a suit of armor. Make it and bring it to him!
[armor: 0 / 1].
Difficulty Level: E
Quest Reward: 5kg Steel, Tilto's Teachings 3
"Oh, yeah."
After receiving the materials from Tilto, Ming Hu went back into the forge, opened the crafting window, found the Iron Armor, and pressed Craft. The material automatically appeared on the workbench, and Ming Hu raised his hammer to strike the shiny part.
[You have successfully crafted iron armor].
It happened again. Tilto looked at Ming Hu in surprise. Ming Hu took the iron armor and brought it to Tilto.
"Ha."
Tilto took the armor from Ming Hu, inspected it, and let out a short sigh. Then he handed it back to him.
"This time…"
Tilto then told him to make a few more items, which Ming Hu did.
"That's it. I don't have anything to teach you…. but I've made each kind…"
"Haha."
Ming Hu looked at Tilto with an awkward smile. Tilto saw Ming Hu looking at him and sighed again.
"I'm pretty sure you'll be able to smash the noses of courtiers in no time after taking the elixir I gave you, but just in case. Come back when you think you've mastered armor crafting. Go."
"Yes, sir!"
Ming Hu smiled at Tilto's words, and then walked out of the armory. Once outside, Ming Hu opened his inventory.
Sigh
He then pulled the Mark of Arang out of his inventory.
"It's time to go."
Ming Hu put the Mark of Arang back into his inventory. And when Ming Hu noticed the red pill next to the Mark of Arang, the Elixir of Strength, he couldn't say anything, only smile.